Slovene Americans

Slovene Americans
Total population
(171,923[1])
Regions with significant populations
California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin
Languages
English language, Slovene
Religion
Roman Catholic, Lutheran
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History of Slovenia

Slovene Americans or Slovenian Americans (Slovene: ameriški Slovenci, literally "American Slovenes") are Americans of full or partial Slovene ancestry. Slovenes mostly immigrated to America during the Slovene mass emigration period from the 1880s to World War I.

History

The first Slovenes in the United States were missionary priests.[2] Two of the earliest such missionaries were Fr. Anton Kappus and Fr. Frederick Baraga (Gobetz, 2009). In the 1730s some Slovenes settled in small farming communities in Georgia.[2] There were a few Slovene soldiers who fought in the American Revolution.[2] Slovene priests built some of the first churches and schools in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and neighboring parts of Canada.[2] Many of these early immigrants were bilingual Slovene-German speakers (Shipman, 1912). Until the 1880s there was a small number of Slovene immigrants to the United States.

Between 1880 and World War I, the largest numbers of Slovenes immigrated to America. Most of these came between 1905 and 1913, although the exact number is impossible to determine because Slovenes were often classified as Austrians, Italians, Croats, or under other, broader labels, such as Slavonic or Slavic.[2] These later arrivals migrated to the industrial cities or to mining towns in the Upper Midwest, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Two later periods of increased immigration to the United States were the years immediately after World War I (1919–1923) and World War II (1949–1956) (Susel, 1980). Most Slovene immigrants to the United States were of the Catholic faith; however, a minority practiced the Lutheran faith (Susel, 1980).

Demographics

Concentrations

According to the 2000 census, the five states with the largest Slovene populations were:

These five states are followed, in descending order, by Colorado, Michigan, Florida, New York, Texas, Indiana, Washington, Kansas, Maryland, West Virginia and Utah, again according to the 2000 census. The state with the smallest Slovene American population is North Dakota (107). There is no American state without Slovene descendants among its population.

Numbers

The 1910 census reported 183,431 persons of Slovene mother tongue, 123,631 "foreign-born" and 59,800 born in America. These numbers are clearly an underestimate of the actual Slovene population since descendants of earlier settlers often no longer knew Slovene. In the 2000 US Census, 176,691 Americans declared that they were of Slovene origin (of those, 738 have attained a Ph.D.). Some Slovenes coming from the Austro-Hungarian Empire avoided anti-Slavic prejudice by identifying themselves as Austrians.[2] Many others were recorded as Slav, Slavic, Slavish, or Slavonian. The true number of Americans of Slovene descent is probably between 200,000 and 300,000;[4] if persons with only one-quarter or one-eighth Slovene ancestry are counted, the number could be as high as 500,000.[5]

Media

The first newspaper established by Slovene Americans was Amerikanski Slovenec (The American Slovene), which was published in Chicago since 1891 and had a pioneer role of unifying Slovene Americans.

Notable individuals

Fraternal organizations

A number of fraternal organizations were founded by Slovene immigrants to the United States.[2][6] These organizations allowed members to preserve old traditions as well as to provide insurance against illness and death.[7] This was especially important because other insurance companies at the time discriminated against immigrants or in some cases defrauded them.[8] A number of mergers and name changes took place during the 20th Century,[9] so the history of Slovene fraternalism in the United States is difficult to trace. The major extant Slovene fraternals in the United States are:

For a longer discussion of the history of Slovene fraternalism in the United States, see the following article: Fraternal Benefit Societies and Slovene Immigrants in the USA.

The Slovenian Genealogy Society, International [10] helps members to trace their Slovene roots.

Slovene schools in the United States

See also

References

  1. ↑ Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). "American FactFinder - Results". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Slovenian Americans, www.everyculture.com
  3. ↑ Data Access and Dissemination Systems (DADS). "American FactFinder - Results". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  4. ↑ http://www.slavicheritagecoalition.com/origins_slovenia.asp
  5. ↑ "SLOVENE SETTLEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  6. ↑ "Fraternal Organizations". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  7. ↑ http://www.kskjlife.com/page.aspx?page_id=23
  8. ↑ "A Brief History of WSA Fraternal Life". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.nfcanet.org/pdf/mergers_changes.pdf
  10. ↑ http://feefhs.org/slovenia/frg-sgsi.html
  11. ↑ "Slovenian Kurentovanje winter carnival, language school dinner at St. Vitus, set for weekend on Cleveland's East Side". cleveland.com. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Slovenian Schools". Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "SLOMŠEK SLOVENIAN SCHOOL". SLOMŠEK SLOVENIAN SCHOOL. Retrieved 17 March 2015.

External links

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